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Old 04-10-2014, 08:42 PM   #1
Gregg Bell
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? about Libreoffice compatibility between two different computers


I write and then format my own ebooks, and I was wanting to use Libreoffice to do it this time (I usually use MS Word). But I have LO 4.1.3.2 on my desktop and only 3.5.7.2 on my laptop (where I do the composing). The versions look pretty similar, except for the fact that the laptop LO does not have Times New Roman for a font. Its default font is Liberation Serif. I just don't want to get into problems working between the two different versions, esp. considering that I'll be converting the .odt format into .html (in LO).

Libreoffice says use the version of LO in the Ubuntu Software Center (I was going to try to get the same version for both computers but the laptop has very small memory and small capacity overall.)so that's what I did.

Any thoughts if I'm headed for trouble using the two different versions? Thanks.
 
Old 04-10-2014, 10:22 PM   #2
albinard
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I think you can easily enough change the TNR font on your desktop to LibSerif, so the spacing and word wrap will match. If there is a significant difference between them in some other respect, I recall you will see a blanked-out page with a notification that the document is in a different format, but offers to change it.

Best idea: try it with a test document, see what happens!
 
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Old 04-11-2014, 01:21 AM   #3
Gregg Bell
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Quote:
Originally Posted by albinard View Post
I think you can easily enough change the TNR font on your desktop to LibSerif, so the spacing and word wrap will match. If there is a significant difference between them in some other respect, I recall you will see a blanked-out page with a notification that the document is in a different format, but offers to change it.

Best idea: try it with a test document, see what happens!
Thanks albinard. I've seen that the newer LO version has the LibSerif, so that's easy enough, but since the most widely used font is TNR, I'd like to stick with that. Which leads to another question: can I import TNR to my laptop? And another question: if so, how? Thanks.
 
Old 04-11-2014, 04:37 AM   #4
jdkaye
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Have you tried the ttf-mscorefonts-installer package? Here's a description:
Quote:
Description: Installer for Microsoft TrueType core fonts
This package allows for easy installation of the Microsoft True Type Core Fonts for the Web
including:

Andale Mono
Arial Black
Arial (Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
Comic Sans MS (Bold)
Courier New (Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
Georgia (Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
Impact
Times New Roman (Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
Trebuchet (Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
Verdana (Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
Webdings

You will need an Internet connection to download these fonts if you don't already have them.

NOTE: the package fonts-liberation contains free variants of the Times, Arial and Courier fonts.
It's better to use those instead unless you specifically need one of the other fonts from this
package.
But you might want to follow albinard's advice and try the fonts-liberation package.
jdk

Last edited by jdkaye; 04-11-2014 at 04:41 AM.
 
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Old 04-11-2014, 06:57 PM   #5
timl
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just a thought...on your desktop is it possible to remove 4.1.3.2 and install 3.5.7.2 from the repos? I am not familiar with debian based distros but on rpm based systems you can specify the version number to install and you might get lucky. That said, I checked 3.5.7.2 on my fedora system with no joy

EDIT: the good folk over at the LO mailing list have pointed me to a location for grabbing old versions should you choose to head down this path

http://downloadarchive.documentfound...breoffice/old/

It is probably also worth pointing out that memory usage in LO can be configured so an upgrade might be worth a thought in the long term.

Cheers

Last edited by timl; 04-11-2014 at 07:28 PM.
 
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Old 04-13-2014, 04:06 PM   #6
Gregg Bell
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jdkaye View Post
Have you tried the ttf-mscorefonts-installer package? Here's a description:

But you might want to follow albinard's advice and try the fonts-liberation package.
jdk
Thanks jdk. It's good to know that mscore package is available. (And I suppose it would be good to have just for general flexibility.) Appreciate the feedback.
 
Old 04-13-2014, 04:09 PM   #7
Gregg Bell
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Quote:
Originally Posted by timl View Post
just a thought...on your desktop is it possible to remove 4.1.3.2 and install 3.5.7.2 from the repos? I am not familiar with debian based distros but on rpm based systems you can specify the version number to install and you might get lucky. That said, I checked 3.5.7.2 on my fedora system with no joy

EDIT: the good folk over at the LO mailing list have pointed me to a location for grabbing old versions should you choose to head down this path

http://downloadarchive.documentfound...breoffice/old/

It is probably also worth pointing out that memory usage in LO can be configured so an upgrade might be worth a thought in the long term.

Cheers
That's brilliant, timl. Never thought of that but that will definitely match them up. Thanks.
 
Old 04-14-2014, 01:09 AM   #8
jdkaye
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You can specify the version number using apt-get as shown below.
Code:
sudo apt-get install mypackage....deb=123.456
where mypackage....deb is the name of the package and 123.456 is the version number you want installed.
jdk
 
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Old 04-15-2014, 01:25 AM   #9
Gregg Bell
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thanks

Quote:
Originally Posted by jdkaye View Post
You can specify the version number using apt-get as shown below.
Code:
sudo apt-get install mypackage....deb=123.456
where mypackage....deb is the name of the package and 123.456 is the version number you want installed.
jdk
But couldn't it be that my little laptop (with like 200 MB Hard Drive) might not be able to handle the latest LO? (LO documentation said to download whatever version of LO was in the Ubuntu Software Center because that would be optimal for the computer.) I don't know. I'm just thinking out loud.
 
Old 04-16-2014, 12:44 AM   #10
jdkaye
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gregg Bell View Post
But couldn't it be that my little laptop (with like 200 MB Hard Drive) might not be able to handle the latest LO? (LO documentation said to download whatever version of LO was in the Ubuntu Software Center because that would be optimal for the computer.) I don't know. I'm just thinking out loud.
I've used Libreoffice "out of the box" on a variety of old-ish machines with no problems. Nothing you do is permanent so if you don't like the results then simply remove the dysfunctional version of LO and replace it with another. It's not a big deal.
jdk
 
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Old 04-16-2014, 02:27 PM   #11
Gregg Bell
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jdkaye View Post
I've used Libreoffice "out of the box" on a variety of old-ish machines with no problems. Nothing you do is permanent so if you don't like the results then simply remove the dysfunctional version of LO and replace it with another. It's not a big deal.
jdk
Thanks jdk. I just figured that since it takes so long to download the latest version of LO on my newer computer that it would overwhelm the little laptop. I will try it. Thanks!
 
Old 04-16-2014, 09:58 PM   #12
Gregg Bell
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jdkaye View Post
You can specify the version number using apt-get as shown below.
Code:
sudo apt-get install mypackage....deb=123.456
where mypackage....deb is the name of the package and 123.456 is the version number you want installed.
jdk
Jdk. I tried to do what you said but got bogged down so can you be super specific please. I want Libre Office. I figure 4.2.3 is the latest version so why not get that. (see screenshot) So I was figuring I would install the same version on all three of my computers. (Right now I have 4.1.3.2 on my two desktops and 3.5.7.2 on my laptop.) The desktops are 32 bit computers and Xubuntu 13.10. Xfce. The laptop is 32 bit and Xubuntu 11.10. So I look at the choices (in the screenshot) and there's rpm and deb and I'm not sure whether rpm or deb is for Xubuntu.

2nd question: I don't know about packages and was not sure what you meant by putting the name of the package in "my package...deb". Can you tell me exactly what to enter? Say the version I want is the main one (and I don't know that it would be) (LibreOffice 4.2.3 for Linux x86 (rpm)) what exactly (including spacing) do I put in the terminal?

So to recap:

What version do I want? What exactly do I enter to get it?

Thanks very much.
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Old 04-16-2014, 11:01 PM   #13
sundialsvcs
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I'd routinely suggest getting the latest version of anything ... and then, as suggested above, get the "usual" fonts that are called-for in ordinary documents ... Times, Helvetica, and so on. They're easy to come by. I've never had any compatibility problems between word-proessor documents no matter what system it was, as long as the fonts (and I do mean, the "real" ones) were installed, whether they came with the program or had to be installed separately. I've never perceived a difference between systems as far as font-rendering and so forth is concerned. This is pretty much a generic concern that has little to do with Linux. (Fortunately.)

Last edited by sundialsvcs; 04-16-2014 at 11:03 PM.
 
Old 04-17-2014, 01:06 AM   #14
jdkaye
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There's no reason not to get the latest version. That's what I have. Ubuntu uses .deb files as packages not .rpm. I use dpkg -i to install them. They wind up getting up in the /opt/libreoffice4.2 folder.
For the purposes of aptitude/apt-get the name of the package would be libreoffice4.2-base and the name of the package file would be something like libreoffice4.2-base_4.2.3.3-3_amd64.deb. Note that the Libreoffice installation involves a large number of packages and libreoffice4.2-base is just one of them.
So to recap, you want the latest version and I'd suggest getting via the Libreoffice website rather than using your repos. That's what I do in any event. Don't forget to also get the language pack and the help pack if you're using a language other than American English.
jdk
 
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Old 04-17-2014, 02:33 AM   #15
Gregg Bell
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sundialsvcs View Post
I'd routinely suggest getting the latest version of anything ... and then, as suggested above, get the "usual" fonts that are called-for in ordinary documents ... Times, Helvetica, and so on. They're easy to come by. I've never had any compatibility problems between word-proessor documents no matter what system it was, as long as the fonts (and I do mean, the "real" ones) were installed, whether they came with the program or had to be installed separately. I've never perceived a difference between systems as far as font-rendering and so forth is concerned. This is pretty much a generic concern that has little to do with Linux. (Fortunately.)
Thanks sundial. That's good to know. I'll definitely stay in the same font. Right now I'm figuring it'll be TNR. Seems to me you can't get more universal than that. Appreciate the feedback.
 
  


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